On average, across all UK groups, the gender pay gap in 2017 was 25.7%.

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The UK average gender pay gap for companies employing 250 or more people is 19.3%.

The mean gender pay gap is a measure of the difference between women’s mean hourly wage and men’s mean hourly wage across an entire workforce.

Chisholm Hunter has the lowest gender pay gap of just 4.3%. F. Hinds has the highest gap at 36.2%.

“We are incredibly proud that Chisholm Hunter does not have any notable gender pay gap. Our business has always been based on a meritocracy and I guess that these newly published figures go some way in reinforcing the fact that Chisholm Hunter rewards are based on merit rather than any sort of entitlement,” says Harry Brown, managing director of Chisholm Hunter.

Signet Jewelers, the parent company of Ernest Jones and H.Samuel and the UK’s largest employer with a workforce of around 2600, has a gender pay gap of 20.4%, just above the national average but below the average of the major retail jeweller groups tracked by WatchPro.

A statement accompanying the report of Signet’s data co-signed by UK executive director Emma Hayward and UK finance director Shaun Carney says that all employees doing the same job are paid equally.

“We believe that the pay gap is the result of the make-up of our workforce. We are confident that men and women are paid on equal terms for doing the same or similar jobs across the business,” the statement says.

Signet does suggest that it can narrow the gender pay gap. “Our goal is to have a more even gender distribution across the organisation and for women to progress to senior and more highly-paid positions in some of our Stores’ Support Centre departments/grades and highest turnover stores,” the statement continues.

The government’s Gender Pay Gap Service also asks employers to provide details of women and men receiving bonuses on top of their hourly pay. 58% of Signet’s female employees and 48% of men received bonuses. On average, men’s bonuses were 58% higher than for women.

“Our bonus gap is largely due to the fact that only two Store Support Centre teams received a bonus (our District and Regional Managers and in-store watchmakers) during the time period, and there are currently more men than women in these populations. It is also impacted by the gender make-up of the small number of senior team members who received a long-term incentive payment,” Signet explains.

F.Hinds, which has the highest gender pay gap of 36.2% among the businesses we tracked, says it pays women and men the same when they perform the same role. “There is a pay gap that is driven by how our teams are structured,” the company says in an online statement.

“F.Hinds is 77% female, with the majority of all the roles in our shops. We offer flexibility across our teams with full time and part time roles that offer a work life balance. These provide the potential for career progression. We are proud that most of our managers started with the company in more junior positions and have made a career progression,” the statement continues.

“The majority of our most senior branch managers are men. In order to progress their careers many have relocated when a senior position has become available. Due to personal circumstances, comparatively few women have relocated when offered these senior positions. In recent years the number of female managers has increased,” F.Hinds concludes.

Aurum Holdings, which employs over 2000 people in the UK, has a gender pay gap of 27%, the third largest gap among the seven groups we researched.

A statement from the group’s chief executive, Brian Duffy, says that the company believes in fairness and equality and, “In recent years we have taken steps to allocate our salary review budget disproportionately to the lower paid members of our teams”.

In a detailed analysis of Aurum Holdings’ gender pay gap data, Mr Duffy states: “We have no meaningful differential between pay for women and men who are doing the same jobs. However, in common with many businesses in the UK, a higher proportion of our senior roles are held by men and this has resulted in a gender pay gap which is just slightly ahead of the UK average.

“This is due to the fact some of our more highly paid roles are in the support centres in London and Leicester and nearly three quarters of our team work in our showrooms and stores. 65% of our retail colleagues are women, many of whom are attracted by the wide range of flexible working options that we are able to offer.

“When we looked at our top 50 jobs in the company overall and in the retail division, the pay gap narrows considerably which reassures us that men and women are being equally and fairly treated — although we still have opportunities to support a better gender balance at the top of the organisation.

“However the mix of senior roles in our company is changing. Three years ago we had no female Area Managers and now more than half of our Goldsmiths Area Managers are women and this is also the same with our Goldsmiths showroom and store management teams. Our seven strong Executive team includes two women which at 28% is close to the 30% target set by the government a few years ago.

“We are pleased with our progress in appointing women to senior positions in the organisation and as leaders in our showrooms and stores however we are not complacent. It will take time to close the gender pay gap in our business and across the retail sector but we are committed to playing our part in doing so,” Mr Duffy concludes.

Beaverbrooks, the only company with a female managing director, Anna Blackburn, has the second lowest gender pay gap of 9.5%.

Ms Blackburn, and her chairman Mark Adlestone, take pride in promoting Beaverbrooks as one of the best companies to work for in the UK, and have been recognised for many years as one of the country’s top 100 employers.

She says that there are no barriers to progression for women. “At Beaverbrooks all our colleagues are treated equally and are given the same opportunities regardless of their gender. We actively encourage people to return to work after having a family, adapting working patterns where we can to ensure a positive work-life bal­ance.”

Beaverbrooks has the highest percentage of women in the highest quartile of earners in the company, with 73% women. “Ten years ago, there were three females in the senior management team and now there are 10,” Ms Blackburn says.

It will come as no surprise to learn that the British retail jeweller industry is dominated by female employees. With the exception of the top quartile of earners, 80% of employees are female. In the top quartile of earners, only 59% of employees are men.

T.H. Baker, which has a gender pay gap of 30%, says the gap is due to men and women having different roles within the company. When the company analysed like-for-like comparisons, it concluded: “TH Baker is proud to say that all
female staff are paid 100% of their male equivalents when doing the same role”.

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